This letter was written by Paul at Rome during his first imprisonment there (Acts 28:16, 30), probably in the spring of AD 57, or, as some think, AD 62, and soon after he had written his Epistle to the Ephesians. Like some of his other epistles (for example, those to Corinth), this seems to have been written in consequence of information which had somehow been conveyed to him of the internal state of the church there (Colossians 1:4-8). Its object was to counteract false teaching. A large part of it is directed against certain speculatists who attempted to combine the doctrines of Oriental mysticism and asceticism with Christianity, thereby promising the disciples the enjoyment of a higher spiritual life and a deeper insight into the world of spirits. Paul argues against such teaching, sho